In the distribution of different objects, it is occasionally desirable to combine a given number of objects to form a so-called distribution unit. The distribution unit may be held together in different ways. For example, the combined objects may be shrink film-wrapped, provided with a wrapping of paper or cardboard or by other means held together as a unit. Also as regards the manufacture of single-use disposable packages for foods, it is often desirable, in particular in relation to packages of smaller volume, to combine them into distribution units.
The single-use disposable packages may be manufactured from a paper laminate or alternatively from plastic and may have different shapes. One commonly occurring packaging shape is parallelepipedic. The packages are manufactured in a filling machine from a continuous material web, where the material web is formed into a product tube, filled with product and severed to foam individual packaging containers which are thereafter finally formed. The finished packaging containers depart from the filling machine, normally on a conventional conveyor belt.
There are many ways of combining a given number of objects, such as packaging containers, before, in a specially designed machine, they are in some way wrapped into a distribution unit. The commonest method is, from one or more rows of packages, to cause the packages to pass from a first conveyor to a second conveyor, where the second conveyor runs at a higher speed than the first, or alternatively the first conveyor is stopped so that a gap is thereby created between the groups of packages.
One problem inherent in the above-outlined solution is the transition between the two conveyors. In order to remedy this problem, for example a small driven roller has been positioned between the conveyors in order, by such means, to facilitate the transition. But for packages displaying a small bottom surface and packages with a high point of gravity, this has not always been sufficient for the packages to be able to stand in position in their packing pattern without jamming or toppling over. Alternatively, a transition plate may be positioned between the conveyors, but this arrangement may also, for certain package sizes, give rise to problems in that no distinct gap is obtained between the packaging groups.